Rail-joint.



J. T. HNLEY, JR.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FIQLED JAN. 26, 1914.

' 1,150,108. Patented'Aug. 17, 1915.

27 'LIIIIIII/IIIII/IIIIIVIIAMII VIIIII/II/Z'I/l/l/ 5 794 Jr. I," v

STATES PATENT orrio JOHN T.3FI1\TLEY, JR., OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR .OF ONE-THIRD TO J'OI-INT. FINLEY, $3., AND- ONE-THIRD TO WILLIAM JENNINGS, BOTH OF ATLAI\TTA,'

GEORGIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

v Specification of Letters Patent. 3 Pate t d Augd 17 1915 Application 'fiiea January 26, 1914. Serial N0.'814,569.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOH T. FI LEY, J12,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the countyof Fulton andState of Georgia, have invented'certain new'and' useful Improvements in Rail-Jointsyand I" do hereby declare the following to bea full,

clear, and exact description of "the invention, such as will en able'others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make'anduse the same. 7

Thls lnvention relates to new and useful lmprovementsin rall joints and has for 1ts principal object theprovision' of a rail joint which will firmly clamp the ends of a pair of abutting rails in place and prevent the same from becoming out of alinement.

Another object of the invention is'to pro vide a rail joint wherein the usual wood filler block is eliminated anda in'e tallic'filler plate is substituted therefor. i

A furtherobject of the invention is the provision of a rail joint wherein the backing off of the nut from the bolt used therein is eliminated and a permanent. joint is thus formed which will do away with the danger usually accompanying the use ofthe old type of joint.

A still further object of the invention the. provision of'a rail joint which will materially reduce the amount of noise caused by the travel of traffic thereover and which will prevent any vertical or lateral move ment of the ends of the rails.

With the above andother objects in view the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be more fully set. forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which 7 r Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rail I joint constructed in accordance with this invention showing the ends of a pair of abutting rails in place,vFig. 2'is a transverse sectional view showing the same before being tightened, Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View similar to Fig. 2 showing the same after beingtightened, Fig. 4 is a fragmental perspective view ofthe angle shoe, Fig; 5 is a transverse sectional viewof the angle shoe, and Fig.6 is a detail perspective view of the filler plate. I

Referring now to the drawings by char acters of. reference, the numerals 1 and 2 designate the ends of abutting rails, each of which comprises the head 3, web 4:, and flange 5. a 1

The numeral 6 indicates a railroad 'tie upon which the ends of the abuttingjrails' rest.

The rail jointwhich isformed of the several cooperating members is designated generally by the numeral 7 and comprisesessenj tlally theangle plates'8 and-9 and the resilient element designated by the numeral 10.

Each of'the above mentioned elements will" be descrlbed in detail asthe descriptionrespectively. A lateral extension 14' is formed lntegral with the body portion 11' and extends angularly with relation thereto to form the flange engaging portion by meansof which the rail flange is held firmly in place. The free edge'of; this extension 14' is provided with the downturnedflange 15 as clearly'illustrated in F igs; '2' and 3. It will be apparent, as illustrated in Fig. 3,

when the-several elementsof the rail joint 7 are tightened that the angle plateS will act as'a support for the hea'd'pfthe rail and prevent the same from becoming twisted.

The angle plate which is designated generally by the numeral 9, comprises a body portion 16, having formed at each of its lateral extremities the longitudinally extending ribs or beads '17 and 18, respectively,which correspond in every feature to the ribs 12 and 13 formed on the body portion 11 of the angle plate 8. A flange engaging extension 19 is formed integral with the lower extremity of the body portion 16 and is adapted to engage the flange of the rail when the device is in use.

It will be clearly seen that when the angle plate 9 is in place and the device firmly clamped together as illustrated in Fig. 3 that the body portion 16 will act as asupport for the head of the rail 011 the side opposite the body portion ll'and prevent the describe the resilient element above referred to by the numeral 10, which comprises a suitable plate 20, whichis formed of spring steel andis provided with the rounded edges 21 and 22. This plate 20 is preferably segmental in cross section as clearly shown in Fig. 6 to form a spring or resilient element which will effectively take the place of the usual wood filler block when the device is in use. This plate is provided near its ends with suitable bolt receiving. apertures which are or such size as to eliminate any danger df interference from the bolt when the device is being tightened. I

Cooperating with the plate 20 and interposed between the plate andthe nut is preferably provided the upstanding portion 2% which is formed inte ral with the base meinber ilaas clearly SlOWIl at Qfland is provided with suitable apertures 27 through which the bolts 28 are adapted to; extend.

The portion 24 preferably extends at an angle slightly on the perpendicular to the baseman-On as clearly shown in Figs l and '5. The base .Zeris preferably provided at its lateralextremity opposite the upstanding portion with a suitable beveled portion 29 to assist placing the plates in position. The base portion is preferably provided ;with the recesses 30 in its beveled edge as evident that the plate 20 will be flattened as illustrated in Fig. 3 and the upstanding portion 24: will assume a substantially perpendicular position with regard to the base member 25. Owing to the resilient action of the member 24 and the plate 20 it will be apparent that the bolts and nuts will remain in proper relation and the nuts will be prevented from backing off due to the action of trafiic over the road.

\Vhile in the foregoing I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be understood that I may make such changes in the combination and arrangement of parts as fall Within the scope of the appended claim.

The combination With the abutting ends of a pair of rails, an angle plate, a fish plate, an angle shoe incasing the rail bases and the fish plate, bolts extending through the angle plate rails, fish plate, and angle shoe to hold the whole in locked position, of a resilient and transversely curved metallic filler plate interposed etween the angle shoe and the fish plate, said filler plate being flattened upon tightening the bolts and thereby forcing the whole into intimate engagement. y

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN T. FINLEY, JR.

WVitnesses:

Errni STARNES, J. B. STEWART.

coiiies b: manifest-n55; t'e 'ob'iaine for eye cents each, by assessing the commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

